Santorini - stressing me out!

[Clearwater]

Need some help or guidance please.  I always wanted to visit and now that I am, I am almost dreading it or stressed out about it. 

 

We will be there October 21st (2024) and there will be several ships in port.  I think 4 total but someone else mentioned 7 tho cruisemapper shows 4.  

 

We are first in and first out.  8am arrive and 5pm departure.  

 

The cable car lines and mobs of people last year are worrying me.  Is it a nice day to hire a sailing charter with lunch and sail around or am I going to be missing out tremendously if I haven't been before?

 

Second - I am embarrased to say but I am worried that I have read in town there are thousands of steps and inclines.  Is this an exaggeration?  I have bad asthma.  I can walk for miles flat ground but uphill triggers it badly.  I don't want to be in a miserable situation and I don't want to miss out.  

 

Any insight, recommendations, thoughts etc ??

 

Also - I see busses can go up, why can't they go down??  Why must one take a donkey, steps or cable car to get down?  Just curious. 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, Clearwater said:

Also - I see busses can go up, why can't they go down??  Why must one take a donkey, steps or cable car to get down?  Just curious. 

Two different locations. One is the new port, where the buses can drive to, but most often the cruise pax are dropped in town to shop, eat and otherwise spend money. The other is the old port only accessible by the cable car, donkey or walking. Most excursions force you to return to your ship via the old port.

 

Check your ship based excursions closely. A small number may have you returning to the new port.

[mapleleaves]

If lunch on a charter boat is what you want, do it.  But most people want to see the views and the beautiful blue domed churches in Oia.

 

As Bruce suggested, look over the ships excursions closely to see if there's a tour that will return you to the new port.  It's VERY uncommon tho; most excursions take you to Fira for the cable car.

 

Failing that option, I recommend taking a cruiseline excursion to Oia. There's usually a simple one (about $100) that lasts 3-4 hrs.  You tender to the new port, then take a bus to Oia.  You have 90 minutes to wander around for views/photos, then the bus takes you to Fira to catch the cable car DOWN.  This excursion would avoid the cable car line going UP plus avoids steep hills.  And being the first ship in port will give you a bit of time in OIA before the crowds arrive.

 

You still have to deal with the cable cars going down tho. It helps that yours is the first ship to leave.  Since sunset on Oct 21 is around 6:30pm and the other ships have late departures, many of those pax MAY choose to have dinner at one of the cliffside restaurants in order to watch the sunset.  

 

Personally I'd take the Oia excursion, have a cool drink at one of the cliffside bars afterwards, then head for the cable car by 1:30.   

[John Bull]

OK, so walking up-hill is a problem.

How about walking down-hill?

 

For good reason folk stress about the lines for the cablecar, but for most people walking down the zig-zag path from Fira  to the tender pier isn't too strenuous - the steps are wide and shallow, and the path has a solid chest-high wall  Top to bottom takes about 20 minutes.

There are plenty of places where you can sit for a break - even a couple of bars

 

Whilst other may disagree, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to folk of average mobility. But only you can decide for yourself

 

 

 

JB 🙂

[erby2283]

I was stressing too so I just booked a ship excursion (Oia and Thira) and have resigned myself to the fact that even though we don't depart until 5 pm, I'm gonna have to head back to the ship around 2 to avoid a mess at the cable car (and that may even be too late). 

 

There was a tour offered by Sandra's Tours that offered transport to and from without having to deal with the cable car but the reviewer said portions of the tour were completely unorganized. I'm waiting to see if Sandra's Tours gets their act together before possibly switching to her tour for Sept 2024.

[Milhouse]

My comments are from a DIY perspective exploring Fira and Oia as we haven't taken a tour or did a sailing charter.

 

One of the keys for us when our ships were the first/one of the earlier arrivals was getting one of the earlier tenders which meant keeping an ear out or just asking staff to find out when and where they were being handed out and getting there early.  Another key is to be ready to head to the tender.

Our visits have been with Celebrity and our experience is that you don't necessarily need to get the absolute first tender numbers to get on the first few tenders.  They called the numbers relatively fast, I believe in part because some people/groups (herding cats) with early numbers aren't ready to get off.  Eg. During my most recent visit, a person in front of me was intent on getting early tender tickets (16 tix) for her group so they could meet a tour. Yet, I didn't see her (and her group) on the first tender with us(?!?).

 

If your ship if the first in and you get an early tender, I think the cable car line queue should be very reasonble.  

However, as others have mentioned, you do have to give yourself enough time to get back down either for queuing for the cable car or walking down the donkey path.  Timing for the cable car down can be tricky because you'll likely be mixing with some pax from other ships returning to theirs early.  

We've walked down twice.  It's doable but I don't love it.  When the donkeys are operating, it's very stinky.  And the stone steps are very smooth and slippery.  I had hikers on and slipped a few times.

 

Personally, the views in Oia, are always one of my highlights so my biased opinion is to visit & explore Fira and Oia versus going on a sailing tour.  However, while you can try to limit excessive steps in Fira and Oia and still get to some nice areas, you are inevitably going to encounter some steps and moreso to get to a few of the more interesting viewpoints (eg Oia Castle) & shops IMO.  Maybe go to Youtube and check out some walking tour videos of Fira and Oia to give you a sense of the pathways?

[dancingfish]

I have not been there so my opinions are just that... We are planning on just walking around on our own.. But waiting until everyone has left and then coming back early. It may or may not work... but since we have no expectation I would also be ok with a pool day on the ship if it looks like the lines are crazy!

[John Bull]

4 hours ago, dancingfish said:

I have not been there so my opinions are just that... We are planning on just walking around on our own.. But waiting until everyone has left and then coming back early. It may or may not work... but since we have no expectation I would also be ok with a pool day on the ship if it looks like the lines are crazy!

 

Your plan - certainly going up - is going to depend on the timings of other ships. All of them will tender the vast majority of their pax to the old quay, near the lower cablecar station.

 

JB 🙂

[melusina]

Me too.

 

So this is the only port where we're taking a ship's excursion because of the cable car problem. We chose a morning sail of the caldera which will leave us in Fira ( we hope, in the town not the port). Then we'll have half a day free. We're on Celebrity Infinity and there are 2 smaller ships with a tital of about 1,000 in port that day. Lovely as Santorini is, I don't do crowds well so we'll just have to see. We should be able to get to Imerovigli and back, if not to Ouia.

[Hlitner]

On 2/10/2024 at 12:41 PM, melusina said:

Me too.

 

So this is the only port where we're taking a ship's excursion because of the cable car problem. We chose a morning sail of the caldera which will leave us in Fira ( we hope, in the town not the port). Then we'll have half a day free. We're on Celebrity Infinity and there are 2 smaller ships with a tital of about 1,000 in port that day. Lovely as Santorini is, I don't do crowds well so we'll just have to see. We should be able to get to Imerovigli and back, if not to Ouia.

You booked a ship that will have about 3000 souls aboard, so avoiding crowds will not be simple.  Being in Europe during the tourist season will also mean crowds everywhere (we sometimes think the entire world has returned to traveling).  

 

Your tour sounds like a good move although one might wonder whether your boat tour will drop you at the pier below Fira (in which case you will need to use the cable car or donkeys) or take you back to Athinios and load you on a bus to drive you over to Fira.  That still leaves the question of how you get back to the ship.  If you are simply dropped in Fira (this is pretty normal for many excursions) than you will need to find your own way down to the tender pier via the cable car or walking the many (and oft slippery) steps.  It is only in recent years that some cruise ship excursions will actually bus folks back to the ferry port of Athinios where they can walk from bus to tender.  That would be the ideal solution to your situation.  

 

I will also shout out a warning, that going to Oia during the tourist season means very crowded streets and shops.  There is no escaping the masses on Santorini as the island has plenty of visitors (many of whom stay on Santorini) in addition to the cruise ship day visitors.  DW and I have been visiting Santorini for over 30 years and still find the island delightful, despite the overtourism problem.  Just keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of cruisers visit Santorini every year, and most find it a place that they wish to return to on another cruise or trip.

 

Hank

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, SantoriniDayTours said:

Let us show you your options as independent cruise travelers visiting Santorini.

 

For an Individual Visit to Santorini you must use the Santorini cable car (in Santorini you will be tendered to the port, not docked) as the port for independent travelers is not accessible by car.
All Independent Cruise Travelers are tendered to the Cruise Port of Santorini (often referred to as Scala Pier, Scala Port, Old Port of Fira Town, or Cable Car Port).
All Organized Cruise Travelers are tendered to the Athinios Ferry Port of Santorini, organized travelers are considered travelers who have purchased an organized excursion sold on the cruise ship or by the cruise company.

Heads Up: Once tendered from your ship to the Santorini cruise port, you will have to use/take the Santorini cable car to reach Fira town/get on the main island/town.
The cruise port of Santorini is car inaccessible, all cruise travelers are getting on top using the cable car.
Depending on how many cruise ships are on “port” that date, you may or you may not experience long lines in the Santorini Cable Car – this is unpredictable.
You cannot pre-purchase cable car tickets, skip the lines, or whatever.
The cable car tickets cost EUR 6-7 per person, per way. Tickets cannot be pre-purchased nor is there any skip-the-lines option with a “higher cost”.

Private Water Taxi: In case the Cable Car line is long, you may consider purchasing a Private Water Taxi – which is “costly” though.
The private water taxi costs EUR 300-400 per way/ride(fixed cost, per water taxi, the boat can accommodate multiple people) and will water-transfer you from the Cruise Port(often referred to as Scala Port, Old Port of Fira Town, or Cable Car Port) to the Athinios Ferry Port.
In this way, you will avoid taking the Santorini cable car and waiting in possible long lines(depending on how many ships there are in port that day), the drawback of this option is the high cost.
What you can do is simply wait and once you arrive at the Santorini cruise port judge/see on your own whether “it is worth” taking a private water taxi or you can simply wait in the cable car line, along with the other cruise passengers. The Private Water Taxi can be purchased on the spot, at the cruise port.

F.A.Q:
Question: What about the Water Taxi that gets to Oia? Can I take this service and meet my guide/bus at Oia instead to avoid taking/waiting for the cable car?
Answer: There is indeed a “water bus” service operated by Dakoutros Travel that gets independent travelers from the cruise port(Scala Port / Old Port of Fira Town) to Oia’s town Port “Pier Ammoudi”.
The disadvantage of this option despite the extremely low cost(approx. EUR 20-25 per passenger) is that the “Water Bus to Oia” start times are unpredictable. You may wait for a long time on the boat, until the boat is “full enough” subject to the operator’s decision, and then starts its 20-30min journey from the cruise port to Oia Town.
In addition, once you get off to Oia’s Port Ammoudi Pier, please note that this port is almost car inaccessible(it is jammed) however, the “Water Bus” ticket includes a bus transfer from “Pier Ammoudi” to Oia town > Approx. 10 minutes – free of charge.
You will get on this bus, that the water bus company offers for free and eventually you will be dropped off in Oia town.
In general, you should be expecting that this “whole process” will take at least 1 hour – in the good scenario, it is a “trip” on its own! 

 

 

A good summary, but no mention of the zig-zag path from the tender pier up to Fira.

Fair enough not to mention walking up the path - only the very fittest would contemplate walking up the path, though those of average or a little below fitness should have no difficulty walking down to get back to the ship.

But you can go up the zig-zag path by mule (usually inaccurately called donkeys) which will transport those who aren't significantly over-weight. I don't know the current cost, but it won't be a lot more than the cable-car. There may or may not be a line for the mules, which are located at the bottom of the zig-zag path.

 

Also worth mentioning that unless things have changed there's no water-bus back to the tender pier from Ammoundi (Oia)

 

You clearly know your stuff about private water taxis - is there any reason why they go to Athinios rather than Ammoundi (Oia), which is much more convenient, you'd need a taxi or bus from Athinios, which is tiny and quite remote. 

 

JB 🙂

[marazul]

4 hours ago, John Bull said:

You clearly know your stuff about private water taxis - is

They are a tour company.

https://santorini-privatetour.com/ or santorinidaytour.gr

[cpl100]

On 2/14/2024 at 2:10 PM, marazul said:

They are a tour company.

https://santorini-privatetour.com/ or santorinidaytour.gr

Have you use this company for a private tour?  We are going in May and considering them.

[marazul]

10 hours ago, cpl100 said:

Have you use this company for a private tour?  We are going in May and considering them.

I have NOT used this company.  Santorini Day Tours is new to CC posts.  They posted above (posts #11 and #13).  @John Bull made a comment about their posts (post #12).  I was curious about this new poster and I looked them up.  I found their website and I posted that they were a tour company.  I didn't take the time to look at their offerings. They did post some very useful information here, but I do not know anything else about them.  Maybe they offer some good excursions starting and ending at the Cable Car port.  If anyone tries them out, please post. 

Edited February 26 by marazul

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, marazul said:

I have NOT used this company.  Santorini Day Tours is new to CC posts.  They posted above (posts #11 and #13).  @John Bull made a comment about their posts (post #12).  I was curious about this new poster and I looked them up.  I found their website and I posted that they were a tour company.  I didn't take the time to look at their offerings. They did post some very useful information here, but I do not know anything else about them.  Maybe they offer some good excursions starting and ending at the Cable Car port.  If anyone tries them out, please post. 

 

 

Yes - and I'm perhaps a little sceptical that they don't clarify on their website, nor have they responded to my question on another thread, about which port their cruises use, something which you and I both know is extremely important to folks visiting Santorini by cruise ship.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2976441-santorini-private-sunset-cruise-for-30-people/#comment-66924146

 

Their cruise offerings seem quite good and quite affordable, but the private water-taxi rates are understandably eye-watering -  if their cruises start and/or end at Athinios, those on cruise ships would need either transport to Fira and then get down to the tender pier by over-subscribed cablecar or the long zig-zag path. Or - especially if time were tight - by that expensive water-taxi 😮.

 

IMHO If they don't use the tender pier (Fira old harbour) they're of no use to cruisers.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[Cleo21]

We did a ship excursion for Santorini, usually we do private excursions.  It just seemed easier and quicker to get to the main sights and it worked out great.  Yes there are steps everywhere but I seem to remember them being broken up quite nicely so you were never walking up a huge flight of stairs in town. We went to a winery with amazing views, then took a brief walking tour to see the beautiful white washed houses, then had free time to look around a bit.  We shopped and sat at a restaurant looking over the caldera, which was so lovely, just had a drink.  We went in the month of  September, a few years back,  and I don't remember lots of crowds.  I think we were driven to the point where the tour started, near the winery, and I believe we took the cable car down, all arranged with the shore excursion.  

[M&Ms]

On 2/10/2024 at 1:41 PM, melusina said:

Me too.

 

So this is the only port where we're taking a ship's excursion because of the cable car problem. We chose a morning sail of the caldera which will leave us in Fira ( we hope, in the town not the port). Then we'll have half a day free. We're on Celebrity Infinity and there are 2 smaller ships with a tital of about 1,000 in port that day. Lovely as Santorini is, I don't do crowds well so we'll just have to see. We should be able to get to Imerovigli and back, if not to Ouia.

We are on Infinity also and are looking at this excursion as well.  We will be in Santorini on September 30, 2024.  When will you be there?

[melusina]

In May.